Paradise Sukima 14

It’s early morning, and Kyo, Luna and Medicine walk out of Entei, Kyo holding a large jar of blood on his hands. Annoyed, Kyo says “you know, we really didn’t have to do this. In fact, we would probably be back home, taking a good rest if we didn’t trek all the way over here... for THIS!” Luna smiles and says “take it easy. Besides, she asked for that blood so politely. And you do know little Kurumi is a vampire. If what that letter says is true...” Medicine finishes in a matter-of-factly tone “then she should be literally, starving to death.” Kyo growls softly, but keeps quite while thinking “sure, you both act so damned casual. This was MY blood, after all.” Luna waits for Kyo to pass by, and with an angelic smile, she wraps her arm around Kyo’s neck, kisses his cheek, then says “I heard that. And for being such a good sport, I’ll cook breakfast, lunch and dinner for a week. What do you think of that?” Kyo, Su-San and Medicine strike a cool thumbs-up pose while wearing sunglasses, Kyo saying “alright! Let’s take this blood to poor Kurumi!” At the same time, Medicine says “no curry for a week! I’m proud of you, Kyo!” A vein pops on Luna’s head as she continues to smile and walk away, then says “of course, if you start acting like idiots so early, I might reconsider.” Kyo, Su-San and Medicine sweat and recompose themselves in a second, then quietly walk behind Luna. Kyo abruptly asks “hey, you guys... Why aren’t we flying? It’s faster.” Luna turns around, and with a neutral face she calmly says “remember I can only fly for an hour, so if we were to fly from here, you’ll probably have to carry me home.” Kyo grins and says “I see no problem with that, do you, Medi?” Medicine rests her head on her arms behind herself, and while looking at Su-San, she comments “yes, I know, he’s a real pervert.” A vein pops on Kyo’s forehead as he clenches his teeth and threateningly says “you want me to take you apart, don’t you!?” Before Medicine answers, Luna unsheathes her swords and shouts “LEFT, RIGHT, FROM CENTER!!” Medicine jumps to the left, Kyo to the right, then Luna jumps to avoid a small fireball headed her way. On the sky, a lone vampire stares down on her pray and smiles as she says “two humans and a weak little youkai! What LUCK! They even got an appetizer ready for me!” Before she even realizes it, Luna is already cutting off her left wing, sending her crashing down to the ground, where Medicine casually walks closer and says “some medicine from the weak little youkai”, then extends her arms toward the fallen vampire and expels a dark-purple cloud, making her cough violently, then suddenly stop. Kyo jumps from the right with his sword facing downward, shouting “you vampires have gotten WAY too cocky!” He stabs the vampire from the back, getting to her heart, making her body burn in fire, then turn to ash. Kyo calls back his sword, still holding on to the jar of blood, then looks at Medicine, then Luna, and says “what is WITH these vampires. I thought the sun was supposed to fry them.” Looking very serious and sounding equally serious, Luna says “whatever it is, it sure is dangerous for humans. Let’s hope Reimu manages to put things back in their place, or we’ll be in a world of trouble.” After exchanging worried glances, Kyo, Luna, Medicine and Su-San quicken their pace, aiming to reach the Garden of the Sun as soon as possible.

At the Myouren Temple, even though it’s daytime, the entire temple looks like it’s covered by the curtain of night. Even inside, the lights seem to lose their brightness with each passing day. Nazrin and Ichirin walk to the rooms with a tray of soup and water, and before opening the sliding door the their destination, they kneel and place the tray in front of them. Nazrin says “here’s the food, master. Do you think this will work?” Shou opens the door in a hurry and says “we have to try, right!?” She takes the tray from the ground and hurries inside the room, then places it on a small table next to Byakuren’s bed, where Byakuren herself seems to be in terrible pain, sweating and turning her head around violently, whimpering and talking about seals, Houkai, Makai, then suddenly calls for help. Shou makes a short prayer and the tip of her fingers glow with a golden light she gently places on Byakuren’s forehead, appeasing her immediately. Shou rapidly takes the spoon next to the soup bowl and gently feeds Byakuren, who gulps down a single spoonful, but turns her face away after the second one is offered. Shou quickly takes the spoon away and grabs the cup of water, and gently turns it sideways, allowing Byakuren to take a small sip. Ichirin and Nazrin approach the bed and notice Byakuren slowly opens her eyes, then looks around. The three girls gasp with excitement, then Shou asks “l-lady Hijiri!? How are you feeling?” Byakuren violently jumps from her bed and grabs Shou by her shirt with a most disturbing look of terror in her eyes, and sounding desperate, Byakuren says “help me! Crystals! Seal... girl. Help... HELP ME!” Shou grabs Byakuren by her shoulder and shouts “Hijiri, what’s wrong!?” Byakuren closes her eyes and falls back to a seemingly peaceful sleep. Shou sighs, almost letting out a loud sob as she places the shaking body of Byakuren back on her bed. Ichirin looks away, then says “ma-maybe Reimu can help. Shou...” Nazrin approaches Shou and says “it’s worth a try!” Shou looks down to Byakuren, as her body start hovering just above the bed, then says “I... I need some air.” After Shou storms out of the room, Nazrin and Ichirin look at each other, and in a sad tone, Ichirin says “just like the first day. Maybe Shou is being too proud!” Nazrin sighs and slowly shakes her head, then says “she just believes we are out of options, and honestly I’m starting to think the same.” Outside the temple, Shou paces back and forth around the temple grounds, then stops and raises her head. From farther ahead, she hears the faint voice of a small girl, saying “but she said in 2 days. Why are we here now, Yuyuko-sama?” A woman promptly replies “you clearly weren’t paying attention, Youmu. She said you’d assist miss Alice in two days.” The girl called Youmu sighs, then says “I know, so why are we here now?” The one called Yuyuko giggles and says “I guess you’ll just have to find out~” Shou raises her spear and whispers “intruders!” Youmu and Yuyuko continue to approach the temple, then Yuyuko stops and smiles just as they are about to enter the grounds. Youmu looks a little confused and asks “Yuyu-sama, is something wrong?” Yuyuko smiles, takes two steps to the left, then says “get ready, Youmu.” Shou drops from the sky with her lance aiming at Youmu’s chest, but the half-ghost unsheathes both swords in a flash and deflects Shou’s attack with ease. Youmu is about to rush after Shou, but Yuyuko opens her fan, getting Youmu’s attention, then says out loud “my, is this any way to greet your guests? And here we come in good will to help you out.” Shou snaps back “how are two ghosts going to help us!?” Yuyuko giggles, closes her fan, then stares at Shou and says “this little one can save your master, miss tiger youkai.” Shou stares back with curiosity at the two ghosts, still holding her defenses up as she makes up her mind about them.

Meanwhile, Ail wakes up inside a bright room, where the yellow and black checkered floors are polished to the point of looking like a mirror, and the furniture is so abnormally large, cities could be built on them and there would still be space for more. As he looks around, his flame constantly shifts colors, but stays mostly green and blue, and that is when he notices a large desk adorned with golden strands over the edges. As he looks up, a deep, angry voice growls and says “so, we finally meet, mister... ‘Ali’”. Calling his name mockingly, the dragon yama reveals his red, angry and scaly face to Ail, smiling with malice in his eyes. A thin and small purple dragon stands to his side, holding a scythe twice her own size, glaring at Ail with hungry eyes as she asks “what do you think we should do with this one, sir?” Ail quickly realizes where he is, and in a demanding tone of voice, he asks “why am I here? I’m not dead yet! What is the meaning of this!?” The dragon yama bangs his mighty fists on his desk and shouts “SILENCE!” The purple dragon angrily says “how DARE you speak to us in such manner! You will bow like the rest and await for YOUR turn to speak!” Ail scoffs and says “can’t do that... I’m a flame. I can’t bow.” The purple dragon gasps in shock, then turns around and away from Ail and the dragon yama, muttering to herself about respect and nonsense of every-day life. The dragon yama ignores his shinigami and angrily says “you meddling human! That whelp you saved was supposed to be here at this VERY MOMENT! Do you realize what you have done!?” Ail turns bright red, and trying to sound calm he asks “so, I was supposed to just let that little one die by that blue fire, is that it!?” The dragon yama blows some fire at Ail, however the flames seem to bounce off him, then the yama angrily says “you invaded this paradise and now you are interfering with the fate intended for others! You should count your blessings, for I would have you in my hands right now and deform your very soul!” Ail scoffs at the dragon yama, then says “well, aren’t YOU merciful. You should be thanking me for saving that innocent’s life from such death!” The dragon yama jumps from his seat, his aura becoming visible as it turns fiery red, then he lands right in front of Ail’s flame, showing the human their difference in size as he towers over the speck that Ail’s flame is in comparison. He glares at the tiny soul, which still glows red, and says “I don’t care if you are NOT from this jurisdiction! I am going to pass judgment on you right now! But before I do, I’m going to BREAK that fighting spirit of yours!” The dragon raises his hands and red, green and yellow bolts of lightning spread from his fingertips and quickly head toward the brave little spirit, but at the very last moment, two beams of light block the powerful magic bolts, then reveal themselves as one says “don’t you DARE break your oath, yama of the beasts!” When Ail takes a good look, he sees Shadow Suwako and Shadow Shinki, only he can barely remember them, and yet feels safe and turns to a natural blue color. Girlie turns her head and says “hello~!” Ail looks back at them as the other one turns around, then says “y-you... are friends... of mine? Right?” Spee frowns as she stares back with her grey eyes, then says “I’m going to have a word with you, Ail.” Both turn their head around to face the dragon yama once more, then Spee says “if you are this eager to pass judgment, do so on me, but I will remind you, there will be consequences.” The dragon yama glares at the two angels for a moment, then calms himself down and flies back to his seat behind the desk, then says “I will send the report to your yama, but be warned. If he tries to mess the fate of this universe one more time, I will not hesitate to judge him.” Spee and Girlie nod at the same time, then they turn to Ail, Spee grabs him, then quietly take him away. Girlie waves her right arm at the yama and his shinigami, making the large sleeve roll back to her shoulder, then says “take care! See you later!”, and finally flies away. The shinigami dragon approaches her boss, then asks “you’re letting them go, just like that!?” The dragon yama sneers and whispers “take this message to Gensokyo, and make sure there are as many witnesses as possible.” The shinigami snickers as she takes a red origami bird from her yama’s hand, then says “it will be done without delay.”

Kyo and company arrive to the Garden of the Sun, and immediately they come across destroyed sunflowers and burned fields, black spots on the ground showing heavy danmaku blasts, and an eerie silence that makes them feel as if they are in a graveyard, rather than a garden. The chill ambience robs them of their breath as the slowly make their way in further toward Yuka’s house, and it’s not long before they come across Marisa’s green aircraft. Kyo stares at it for some time before he opens his mouth to comment, but Medicine beats him to it, saying “whoa, what’s this? An alien invasion?” Kyo grinds his teeth, thinking “she totally stole my line, dammit!”, but discards his jealousy and says “Marisa must be around here... I hope.” Staring suspiciously, Luna asks “and how do you know that?” Kyo sweats and stutters nervously, but quickly composes himself and says “well, she asked the kappa for help, and I am sure this has to be one of her inventions.” Luna gasps, as if realizing something, then sweats and chuckles nervously as she says “oh, right, right. I forgot about that... but...” They all look around the area, then Medicine asks “where’s Marisa? Or that crazy spirit girl?” They continue to look around and inside the small UFO, unaware that a towering shadow looms behind their back, then suddenly, the sweet and ominous voice of Yuka Kazami says “my, my, my~! Another party of demons has come to destroy my garden. Too bad, you won’t get the chance, huh?” Kyo, Luna, Medicine and Su-San’s faces turns blue after hearing Yuka’s voice, and before long, they find themselves running for their lives as Yuka cackles and shoots yellow beams of energy at them, making small holes on the ground where they impact. While shooting, Yuka calls “come on little demons, don’t run~! It will be very quick, I promise.” Kyo hurriedly asks “what should we DO!?” Luna points in front and shouts “that house!” In just a few seconds, Medicine, Luna, Su-San and finally, Kyo, enter Yuka’s house and close the door behind them. They can hear when Yuka stops chasing them and says to herself “they escaped again. Geez, Yuka, you need to get your act together. You let 8 of them escape already!” The small party look at each other, then Kyo asks “eight? Who are the other 5?” A woman behind them clears her throat, making the party of 3 twitch and turn around with terrorized eyes, thinking Yuka has caught up to them, however the find Marisa, Mima and Elly staring back at them. Elly smiles and waves, then says “welcome to the club.” All three look back in shock, then Luna finally asks “alright, what’s going on here!?” Marisa shrugs, and sounding quite annoyed, she says “Mima-sama and I landed here yesterday, then all of a sudden, Yuka starts calling us demons and starts to attack us.” Mima smiles and says “I tried to fight back, and I almost won, but she cheated on me and so we had to run.” Marisa snickers and says “yeah, right. You just weren’t paying attention like you should have.” Marisa and Mima press their faces against each other, then Mima grumbles “you try having a rose pushed up your skirt and see how YOU like it!” Elly nervously raises her hands and says “now, now, come on. Let’s not fight now.” From the kitchen table, a girl moans, getting Luna’s attention. When she walks in, she finds Kurumi sitting on the table, looking weak and somewhat delusional, mumbling incoherently while swinging her finger in the air and smiling. Luna points at her and ask “how long since she’s had blood?” Elly rubs her chin for a moment, then says “ever since that magical shockwave hit us. About the same time when Yukarin started calling everyone a demon.” Marisa twitches and thinks “again that thing. Dammit, I never wanted this. I just wanted to help Reimu.” Luna shrugs and says “well, we’re going to need her help if we’re going to beat miss Yuka, so...” Luna rummages through her bra, then pulls out the jar with Kyo’s blood, and places it on the table in front of the little vampire. Marisa looks at her own chest in shame and pats herself, while Medicine stares on in wonderment and asks “how’d she do that!?” Kurumi sniffs around and mumbles “blood...?” When she notices the jar, she hurries to grab hold of it and twists it open, and before long, she drink the entire content without spilling a drop, and with her lips covered in blood, she smiles, looking content and refreshed. Kyo sighs, then says “well, I guess it wasn’t a waste after all.” Curiously, Luna looks around, then asks “wait, wasn’t there supposed to be someone else in here?” There is a loud bang coming from the cabinet in the kitchen, and sounding casual, Marisa says “oh that’s right. We got Wriggle here too, ze!” The cabinet doors burst open and Wriggle falls right down to the floor on her seat, looking a little dazed as she says “whoa, I don’t even remember getting in there.” Kyo looks at her, then exclaims “Wriggle, it’s been quite a while!” Wriggle looks back at Kyo with curiosity, then says “weird. I’ve been around your house often.” Luna smiles, then says “that’s right, Kyo. I always give her a lump or two of sugar.” Kyo looks dumbfounded, then says “I see. And, any reason why you’re giving her the sugar?” Wriggle replies “I keep the bugs way from your house for this reasonable payment.” Kyo just stares back a little confused, but decides not to ask any more questions.

At the Myouren temple, Shou, Youmu and Yuyuko walk into the temple when Shou suddenly turns around and says “I’m warning you! If you try to hurt Hijiri, I’ll seal you both!” Yuyuko flaps her hand in front of herself and says “ara, ara~, I already told you, we are here to help. Right Youmu?” Youmu stands stiff in place, terrorized while staring at a blanket ghost that stands beside her. Shou looks back casually and says “ah, Nue, where have you been?” The blanket ghost replies “sorry, I fell asleep on the roof.” Trembling, Youmu points at the ghost and asks “y-y-you are f-f-f-friends with this ghost?” Shou stares back with confusion, then asks “what are you talking about, miss? That’s just Nue.” Yuyuko notices the terror on Youmu’s whitened face, then says “Youmu, you are being rude. Say hello to miss Nue.” Youmu closes her eyes, extends a trembling hand, then says “p...pleasure... t-t-to meet you, miss Nue.” Nue casually replies “the pleasure’s all mine, little lady.” Youmu slowly opens her eyes, and suddenly sees a large round white ghost with a ghostly headband, one large red eye, and a large tongue sticking out. Her face turns blue, then she suddenly runs behind Yuyuko, crying “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m SORRY! Eee~!” For a moment, Shou stares stranged at the two ghosts, but suddenly frowns and says “Nue, stop scaring that girl!” Nue, in her normal human-like form, stares back at Shou, then laughs and says “I’m sorry, but I swear, I wasn’t even trying here.” Yuyuko gently taps Youmu’s head, then sighs and says “what are we ever going to do with you?” Youmu slowly lifts her trembling head, then slowly opens her eyes to look at Nue. In an instant, her trembling stop and her terror is replaced by amazement and wonderment, then she asks “who is this girl? Is this miss Nue?” Nue smiles and winks, then says “in the flesh.” Youmu stutters, wanting to asks about Nue’s appearance moments ago, then Nue says “I can morph into what the person in front of me fears, however, in rare cases, I can’t seem to be able to control it. Like just now.” Before the conversation can continue, Shou raises her voice a little while asking “shall we go to lady Hijiri?” Yuyuko smiles whimsically and says “sure thing. Come on, Youmu. We don’t want to disappoint the yama now.” Youmu straightens out and nods, then all 4 girls walk to Byakuren’s room, where Nazrin, Minamitsu and Ichirin watch over her floating and sleeping body. The moment they enter, Yuyuko opens her fan to cover her surprised face, then Youmu comments “whoa. I can’t believe that girl can do all this!” Shou suddenly turns around and shouts “what girl!? Who’s doing this to lady Hijiri!?” Yuyuko turns around and smacks Youmu on the head, then says “we must watch our tongue!” Youmu lowers her head apologetically and says “I’m sorry, Yuyu-sama.” Shou asks again “what ‘girl’ is doing this to Byakuren!?” Yuyuko closes her fan, then says “we promised the yama not to tell yet. Look, we have to free your master now, or it will be too late.” Shou sighs and calms down, then nods. Yuyuko signals Youmu to get close to Byakuren, and just as Youmu gets 3 steps closer, she falls asleep on the floor. The girls panic, Shou looking frightened at Yuyuko, however the ghost princess continues to smile and says “it’s alright, there is no need to worry.” Before Shou can ask what happened, Yuyuko says “she’s inside miss Byakuren’s mind, freeing her from a powerful seal. You’ll see. Before you know it, everything will be just fine again.” Shou stares back at Yuyuko with worry, but closes her eyes and says “a prayer for our friend.” All the girls kneel on the floor, then clap their hands together, closing their eyes and praying in silence. Meanwhile, Youmu finds herself inside a wide open space, where the black floors look as if trails of fire, go through set channels while making strange shapes on the dark ground. When she looks ahead, she notices a large mountain made of glass, and inside, the silhouette of a woman who looks just like Byakuren. Youmu calls “miss Byakuren~! Is that you~!? Please, answer me!” From all around, Byakuren’s voice echoes as she desperately says “hello!? Who-who’s there!? Are you here to help me!?” Youmu looks around, unable to tell where the voice is coming from.

Above the clouds of the Dragon’s Paradise, Girlie, who holds Ail in her arms, and Spee, who has a slightly frightened look on her face, fly toward an unknown destination. Though Girlie smiles and pat’s the spirit with her hand through the long sleeve, Ail feels unsettled, as an awkward silence courses along with them as they fly. Ail builds up courage to speak, but Spee beats him to it, and sounding disappointed and frightened, she says “YOU need to remember why you ended up as you are in the FIRST PLACE!” Girlie playfully says “Ooh~ You’re being scolded”, then Spee says “Ail, you are being foolishly reckless, again!” Ail asks “what do you mean ‘again’? What’s happening!? Who were those rude dragons!?” Spee sighs, then says “and you already learned your lesson even. You were already being so careful... then THIS happens. Oh, Ail, please listen to me!” Ail’s flame turns dark blue, signaling his saddened state, then Spee says “please, we are doing everything we can to help you, but if you rush things now, you’ll end up in hell! That dragon yama is NOT like the one you know. He takes pleasure in torturing the souls in hell!” Girlie smiles and nods rapidly, then says “yes, yes! You listen to Spee! You remember the things in your head, then you come back home!” Spee sighs one more time, then turns her head to look at Ail with a sisterly smile on her, then says “we’re going to take you back to the guardian of this paradise. I want you to promise, no more recklessness! Don’t come out here again, or that yama will have your soul, you understand!?” Ail turns bright-pink, then manages to nod his flame-like body, even though Girlie holds him tight. Spee smiles, then she and Girlie stop and slowly float down from the clouds. Immediately after going through the clouds, Ail can see the vast world of the dragons. Gigantic forests to the eats, mountains of minerals to the north, various bodies of fresh water, including a gigantic lake to the south, and a large salt-water beach to the west, where he can see some dragons floating on the water, roaring with content expressions on their faces. When he looks directly under them, he sees Kimi and the guardian dragon, waiting for them near the tree-tops, the white and black yin-yang dragon looking up with a relieved look, while Kimi stares at the dragon with a rosy color showing over her dark-green scales on her cheeks. The guardian dragon smiles and says “you reckless little soul, do you know how worried I was!?” Ail turns dark blue and says “I’m sorry. I just wanted to save that child.” Spee sighs with relief and says “the yama almost judged him, but we managed.” The dragon guardian nods in thanks as he takes Ail from Girlie’s hands, then says “you two have done so much for him already. Ail, you owe them your gratitude.” He points the spirit at the two little angels, and while glowing golden, Ail says “thank you very much. And I am very sorry to have put you through this. I promise, I’ll do better, you’ll see.” Both angels ‘aww’ at the same time and pat the spirit on the head, making Ail turn pink. The dragon looks at the spirit, then says “and it seems you remembered a great deal while out here.” Before Ail answers, Spee says “please, take him back to the void, and continue to help as best you can.” The dragon nods, then Spee says “and you, mister Ail! I don’t want to see you in such a predicament again, so be more prudent!” Ail’s flam turns pink-orange as he says “s-sorry. Will do.” Kimi snaps out of her trance, then shakes her head and says “whatever. I want to look around, so, see ya.” The guardian dragon grabs her shoulder before she goes away, then says “you be very careful out there, and try not to cause trouble.” Kimi nods, an as soon as the guardian dragon releases her, she flies away under the trees, turning back into her human shape and making sure nobody can see her red face and panicked eyes. She watches as the two angels and the guardian dragon bow to each other before flying away to their separate destinations and thinks “dammit, that was embarrassing! Ugh, if he touches me again, I’ll bite... but... He’s too powerful, so maybe just a growl?” While she thinks this, she covers her cheeks with her hands, shakes her head, then says to herself “get a hold of yourself, Kimi!”

Back at the Garden of the Sun, Yuka kneels beside a bed of crushed flowers, muttering angrily while trying to raise them again. Kyo stands behind her and stares, keeping as quiet as possible. Luna and Medicine hide behind a flowerbed in front Yuka, waiting for the right moment to strike, while Elly, Kurumi and Mima slowly fly around and above Yuka. Unknown to them, Marisa has exited the house and hides herself amongst the towering sunflowers. Yuka senses something is going on around her, and right after she stands up and turns around, Kyo says “sorry, miss flower youkai, but I’m going to have to beat you to your senses.” Yuka smiles tenderly, yet emanates her frightful energy as usual, and says “the demon speaks. I think the one who needs his senses beaten into place... is YOU! Dual Spark!” Kyo uses both hands to summon a powerful enough shield and deflect the powerful dual-beam blast, and while Yuka’s attention is place on Kyo, Luna and Medicine jump out of hiding, wearing sunglasses. Luna tosses one of her flash-clips, successfully blinding Yuka, and while she screams obscene words, Medicine sends a blue cloud of poison that chokes her to her knees. Kyo shouts “alright, time for the finisher!” He jumps high in the air with his red sword ready to strike down hard, and when he hits Yuka, he feels as though he’s hit a mountain instead. Yuka holds the sword with her bare hands, smiling wickedly as she stares back at Kyo, and in a sweet, yet ominous tone of voice, she says “it’s going to take at least 100 of you to take ME down!” She places the palm of her hand on Kyo’s abdomen, then whispers “Master Spark”, then sends Kyo flying back as the wide yellow beam spreads from Yuka’s own hand, burning off his black undershirt. Luna calls for Kyo, and right after he falls on his back on the ground, she screams “you witch! I’m going to kill you!” Luna unsheathes both swords and goes for the quick kill, Medicine and Su-San trailing behind her to assist, but Yuka smiles wickedly and knocks Medicine out with ease, using her flower danmaku. Luna swings with speed and might, but Yuka dodges with ease, making it look like she’s dancing along with Luna’s swings. Elly and Kurumi look at each other with determination in their eyes and nod, then swoop down fast, ignoring Mima, who shouts “you idiots, stick to the plan!!” While Luna continues her assault, Elly and Kurumi aim to team-tackle Yuka, but the both of them hold back for a moment, Elly foolishly saying out loud “m-miss Yukarin, come back!” In that second, Yuka bows to Luna, lifting her skirt elegantly as she does, then jumps out of the way, just as Elly and Kurumi are an inch away from her, taking Luna by surprise and tacking her hard instead. While in the air, Yuka follows their blunder with exploding flower danmaku and knocks all three girls out. Mima growls softly and says to herself “stupid pets! I’m gonna have to improvise!” Yuka lands next to the three girls, looking a bit surprised at them, then says “my, you demons had a plan, I see. But you failed to calculate my own power against your own.” Mima laughs as she slowly hovers down and says “guess it’s up to the great Mima to take you down!” Yuka’s face twists to hateful anger as she glares at the evil spirit, seeing her as a large black demon with two tattered wings and bloody eyes, then says “you are eager to die, aren’t you?” Mima’s smile vanishes as she stares back at Yuka, and in a second, danmaku flies from both sides with such speed, volume and power, both are on the ground full of burn marks and messed clothes within seconds. After groaning in pain for a bit, both girls manage to stand up and stare at each other for a moment. From the right, a thin blue beam flies straight to Yuka, who opens her parasol and easily reflects the beam back to the source, revealing Marisa, who yelps and jumps out of hiding, holding a blue laser gun on her hands. Yuka’s wicked smirk returns as she summons as much energy as she can to herself, then shouts “DUAL SPARK!” Yuka points both hands straight at Marisa, and the moment she unleashes her massive beams, Mima jumps in the way, screaming in agonizing pain as the beams burn her ghostly skin and send her flying all the way back to the house. Marisa calls for her master, but long before she can give chase, Yuka jumps in front of her with a terrorizing look in her glowing red eyes, then softly says “you demons were really out to get me, and you could have succeeded too. Too bad I’m just too strong for the likes of you.” Marisa cowers back as Yuka’s shadow looms over her face.

Thinking quickly, and acting accordingly, Marisa pulls one of her bombs from her pockets and lights it up, tossing it in the air and saying “think fast”, then running away as fast as she can, while Yuka catches the airborne bomb. The flower youkai stares at it as the fuse burns out of sight, then asks “what the heck IS this thing?” The bomb explodes right on Yuka’s face, leaving a thick black cloud all around her, however, rage gets the best of her, and with a mighty roar, Yuka jumps out of the smoke cloud and flies after Marisa, getting in front of the feeling witch in a few seconds. Yuka breathes with effort due to her rage, her eyes glow crimson, her face turning red, and in a frightful tone of voice, she says “you demons have pushed me TOO far! I WAS going to let you all go back home, but you just wouldn’t take the HINT! DUAL SPARK!!!” Marisa gasps in horror and tries to turn around and run away, but the two wide beams are right in front of her face, accompanied by various blue orbs as well. Marisa freezes in place and remembers Shikieiki’s words “you can use your broom defensively.” Marisa’s broom suddenly appears right on Marisa’s right hand, and Marisa herself yells out loud “COMET!! BLAZING STAR!!” A spell card floats right in front of her face, glowing light blue, then she blazes through the sky, covering herself and her broom in a magical barrier that breaks right through Yuka’s vicious attack. As she passes by the youkai, she manages to fire multi-colored stars to stun Yuka for a moment, then manages to fly far away as fast as she can. Yuka shakes off the burning smoke that comes from her face, growls in a rage, then turns her beams to the escaping witch, managing to hit Marisa’s broom and send her crashing down into the flowerbeds. Yuka stops her attack and is about to give chase, but she stops when a man says “I don’t go down that easily!” When she turns around, a grey demon, holding a red sword and white shield, and a smaller green demon stand firm and ready to fight, though in reality, it’s Kyo and Wriggle. Wriggle jumps to the air, while Kyo runs straight at Yuka and shouts “Flames of Elegance!” Kyo thrusts his sword 30 times per second and generates many blue flames that trail randomly toward Yuka, dancing around each other, managing to hit her a few times with the blade’s energy and some of the intense blue flames. Yuka uses her energy to push everything away from her, also managing to blow every single blue fireball to nothing, and while she aims her anger at Kyo, Wriggle says “time to earn that honey pot! Lamp Sign, Firefly Phenomenon.” Fireflies swarm all around Wriggle, then some scatter around and head toward Yuka, while others circle around Wriggle and unleash large curtains of blue orb bullets, managing to momentarily overwhelm the flower youkai. Yuka is ready to counterattack, but Wriggle herself flies toward her and clings on her face, making Yuka desperately wave her arms and shout “ew, ew! Get it off, get it off!” Wriggle chuckles and says “now, now, I’m just going to do this.” Wriggle sticks out her long and thin tongue, then licks Yuka’s eyes, smacking her lips and saying “mmm~! Taste like honey!” Yuka panics and screams while running around and shouting “I’M BEING DEVOURED! HELP!” When she takes a better look, she notices Wriggle, then asks “wait, it’s that bug girl? Where’s that demon?” From behind, Yuka feels as though her head has been struck by a large rock with great force, then slowly, she loses her balance and finally falls on the ground unconscious. Wriggle manages to fly away just before Yuka falls, then says “hey, she was already back to normal.” Kyo calls off his shield, and smiling with embarrassment, he shrugs and says “er, whoops.”, then stares at the unconscious youkai and worriedly says “she’s NOT gonna be happy about that.” Wriggle chuckles nervously, then says “not one bit.”

Meanwhile, at the Myouren temple, Shou and her friends anxiously await for something to happen, while the half-ghost, Youmu, is inside Byakuren’s mind. Inside Byakuren’s mind, Youmu comes across a dead end of mountains made entirely of glass. She cups her hands around her mouth and shouts “is anybody here!” Again, Byakuren’s voice echoes all over, calling back “please, get me out of here *sob*! Please, I don’t want to be sealed again!” Youmu shouts back “but I can’t find you! Can you at least tell me something I could use to find you!” There is no answer this time. Youmu thinks “oh no. She’s stopped. Maybe I was too slow!” From the left, Byakuren bangs on the thick glass that blocks her from reaching Youmu, startling the half ghost as she punches on the glass with despair in her face. Youmu manages to recover from the shock and shouts “wait, wait! Stop hitting it like that, or you’ll hurt yourself!” Byakuren stops, however the despair in her face remains as her voice echoes all over “please, help me! Get me out of here! That girl sealed me in here! I don’t want to be sealed again! Please, HELP!” Youmu sighs, then says “alright. Just STAY CLOSE this time... but not too close. I’m going to try breaking the wall again.” Byakuren nods, then takes a step away from the crystal wall as Youmu closes her eyes and holds the hilt of the sheathed Roukanken while summoning up some energy. When she opens her eyes, she moves like a flash, and even though her sword crashes against the crystal various times, Byakuren can’t see the blade moving at all, and right after she blinks, she sees Youmu slowly sheathing her sword again. Byakuren approaches the glass and asks “d-did it work?” The glass shatters under Byakuren’s hands, allowing her to escape her prison, then Youmu smiles and says “yes, I believe it worked.” Byakuren flies out of her prison and hugs Youmu tightly, saying “thank you, thank you, thank you! You don’t know how happy I am to be out of there!” In the world outside her mind, Byakuren’s body slowly falls back to her bed and her color slowly returns. Excitedly, Shou says “Hijiri! She’s regained some color!” Nazrin smirks and says “seems the little half ghost did it.” Nue lets out a half smile, then says “to think she’s such a coward.” Yuyuko smacks Nue on the head with her fan, and with a whimsical smile, she says “don’t bully my Youmu.”

Back inside Byakuren’s mind, Youmu and Byakuren fly aimlessly around, hoping to find a way out of there, however, unknown to them, some dark clouds are silently following after them. Youmu and Byakuren finally spot an exit point, a white orb of swirling energy, standing in the middle of a valley formed by the very crystal mountains that imprisoned Byakuren before. The girls smile and laugh as they rush toward the exit, but a blue bolt of lightning strikes right in front of them, preventing them from going any further. Youmu unsheathes both swords and says “it’s her!” Byakuren summons her blue, scroll-like magical rods to her hands and raises them above her head as she opens them widely, then glares at the ominous laughing clouds and says “I will not let you seal me again!” Youmu looks back to Byakuren with the corner of her eyes while holding her swords in a defensive manner, then says “I’ll distract it while you prepare!” Byakuren nods, then says “be careful, miss Youmu!” Youmu nods, then swiftly flies straight at the clouds with her ghost half ready for battle. Once they are close enough, Youmu unleashes as short range shockwave from her blade that cuts right through a blue lightning bolt that heads her way, and while she slashes the bolt, her ghost half rises above her head and starts showering the clouds with massive blue orbs. The orbs seem to explode in the center of the clouds, then Youmu gasps and says “so it CAN be hurt!” She pulls out a spell card and shouts “Asura Sword! Obsession with the Present World!” Youmu flies high above the dark clouds as orbs of blue and red surround the cloud from left and right, some managing to strike the cloud, just not hard enough. Youmu raises her Hakurouken above her head, then slices the air underneath her, sending a powerful energy wave that sends a large group of orbs flying straight to the cloud’s center, damaging it greatly, and when she sees a blue swirl of energy in the very center of the clouds, she rushes in with both swords at hand, crossing them as she lunges forward, then cuts right through the clouds and the energy, making the woman’s voice scream out loud. Byakuren realizes what Youmu did, and once Youmu is far enough from the clouds, Byakuren gets closer, places her magical rods close together and shouts “St. Nikou’s Air Scroll”, and as she declares her spell, the spell card materializes on the scroll and makes both the scroll and rods shine brightly. Byakuren moves around with speed, zigzagging from left to right and up and down, leaving trails of blue beams that shatter into bright danmaku orbs that scatter all around, striking the cloud rather gently, however, Byakuren is not done. While the danmaku does its job of keeping the consciousness of the cloud busy, Byakuren closes in, her magical rods glowing bright blue, then she raises the rods to touch the cloud, then starts zigzagging all around it, making it scream out loud as the beams of light burn right through the blue energy that makes up the cloud’s consciousness. Finally, Youmu decides to try and cut through it again, however, the crystal mountains shatter and turn to dust, the cloud suddenly disappear both inside and outside of Byakuren’s mind. Outside, the temple seems to brighten up as the sun rays finally reach the temple itself, while inside Byakuren’s mind, the scenery changes to a vast paradise of fauna and flora. Youmu looks around with a smile and says “the nightmare seems to be over.” Byakuren nods with a tired smile on her face then says “please, let’s just get out already.” Youmu smiles and nods, then both girls head straight to the white orb with swirling energy.

Back at the Garden of the Sun, Elly and Kurumi hold tightly on to Yuka as they stand in front of the house, Yuka looking confused at everyone, ignoring the bone-crushing hugs her two underlings keep giving her, despite her coldness toward them. Kyo stands without an undershirt beside Luna and Medicine, resting his head on his arms behind him while asking “so, are you sure you’re ok now?” Luna rummages through her bra and says “ugh, relax, sweetheart! She said she was fine... a-ha!~”, then pulls a neon-pink shirt for Kyo to wear. Kyo looks at the shirt with disdain, but decides to keep quiet and just put it on. Medicine yawns, then says “let’s go home, you guys. Everything is fine.” Luna smiles and says “I agree.” Kyo bows to Yuka and says “we’ll take out leave. Kurumi, Elly. If you need help again, try and contact someone else.” Kyo ignores the shocked expressions on the two youkai, then bows to Marisa, Wriggle and Mima, then says “thanks again for all your help. Marisa, you keep up the good work.” Marisa and Mima look tired, full of burns and their clothes on tatters, but both manage to smile and bow to Kyo, who carries Luna, and along with Medicine, fly away back home. Marisa turns to Yuka, then approaches her and with a serious look on her face, she says “Yuka, I need your help.” Yuka silently stares back with her usual smile, while Kurumi takes a bite of her right arm and Elly lets go of her left arm. Since Yuka doesn’t answer, Marisa continues “to make a long story short, I did something very stupid, and I need you to use Dual Spark on a gate I created, so I can close it off.” With that smile on her face, Yuka bluntly says “no. Go do it yourself.” Marisa frowns and wants to argue, but Mima hold her shoulder and whispers “don’t”, then Yuka says “tell you what. Since, unlike what they might say about me, I’m not a bad person. If by the time you are ready to do all this, you still can’t do it on your own, you come and get me. For now, my answer remains.” Marisa stares into Yuka’s eyes, holding her desire to cry, however, something in Yuka’s eyes calms her down, and after Mima lets go of her shoulder, she smiles and nods, then says “I’ll hold you to that promise, ze!” Yuka smiles and nods, then says “I never go back on a promise. After all, I’m not a human.” Marisa, Mima and Wriggle bow to Yuka, and as they turn around to walk to the UFO, Wriggle says “I’m coming too. I want to see where all of this is going!” Marisa replies “alright, but if a single bug craws up my drawers, I’m going to squish you!” While Wriggle and Marisa argue about bug-crushing jokes, Elly curiously looks at Yuka, then asks “miss Yuka, what going on? Why did you promise that to the black and white?” Yuka sighs, then says “a little flower told me a most interesting tale. Let’s just leave it at that.” Kurumi exclaims in amazement, then says “ooh, an ‘interesting tale’! Will you tell?” Yuka smiles again, though this smile seems to carry an ominous essence, and as she looks to Kurumi, she says “maybe another time.” The ominous essence vanishes in an instant, and Yuka walks to her little house, stretching her arms in the air while groaning contently. Farther into the garden, the flower that replaces Ail’s original flower, the one with blue and white petals, has grown to the size of a human. It seems to move on its own for a second, making a jingling sound as it does.

Back at the Myouren temple, Shou, Minamitsu, Nue, Ichirin and Nazrin celebrate the return of Byakuren with a feast dedicated for her and Youmu, who risked herself to free Byakuren from the seal inside her own mind. The girls celebrate, drink and mingle until nightfall, when Yuyuko approaches Byakuren for a chat. Yuyuko takes a sip from her sake cup and asks “will you let us stay here until after tomorrow?” Byakuren lowers her sight, crossing her arms under her chest, then sighs and says “that girl. You’re going to have to terminate her, aren’t you? She’s such a nice girl. I can’t believe she’d...” Yuyuko stares at Byakuren with a whimsical smile on her face, then says “Youmu is simply here to assist. Besides, that girl is not fated to go just yet. Don’t worry about her. Worry more about the young magician and her two daughters that have to deal with her.” Byakuren asks “think we should help?” Yuyuko takes another sip from her sake, then says “oh, no. Let the youngsters have their moment in the spotlight.” Byakuren looks to the star-filled night sky and smiles as she says “I believe you are right.” Both girls turn their heads behind themselves when Youmu suddenly screams “KYAAAH~! Yuyuko-sama, HELP!” Annoyed, Shou says “Nue, stop that already!” Nue replies “I can’t hear you~!” Youmu runs with a frightened face to the front of the temple, while Nue, who has taken the shape of a one-eyed, long tongued, thick skinned ghost with a set of limbs and a headband, follows after the frightened gardener, saying things like “boo”, and “bleh-bleh-bleh, I’m going to eat you~” The chase comes to an abrupt end just outside the temple itself, when a large golden washtub falls right on top of Nue’s head, making a loud clanking sound as it strikes Nue so hard, she turns back to her human form and gets her head buried under the dirt due to the impact. Youmu turns around with tear-filled eyes and shouts “you are very rude, you mean nue!” Nue only groans in pain as the bump on her head pulsates. From inside the temple, Youmu stares toward the gates as Youmu approaches Nue, then says to herself “only I get to tease Youmu like that.” Byakuren can’t hear clearly, and stares back at Yuyuko with curiosity and some shock, due to an ominous aura emanating from that smile.

To be continued...

Characters, Spell Cards and Scenario belong to ZUN -Team Shanghai Alice-
Ail, Kyo, Luna, Spee and Girlie were created by Willie G.R.
Kyo’s “Flames of Elegance” spell card was created by Willie G.R.

APR 19 2010
Written by
Willie G.R.

A/N:
Geez, again, I wanted to add more stuff, but I think it’s packed enough! Uuu~ this is becoming fun. OMG! Rika isn’t here??? Uuu~ I better fix that for next time. Should be easier since the messes should lessen from now on... maybe. Well anyway, I hope you are enjoying these. And please, don’t make fun of Kyo. REAL men wear pink! Still, I don’t think I’d wear a neon-pink shirt, unless I am threatened to do so... Well, see you next chapter.